Method and apparatus for making castings



Feb. 1, 1955 R. J. HlNES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CASTINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 6. 1950 INVENTOR. W W (/mf/V, WM, 7 8M Yvflvmflcm A/m/Mw/i Feb. 1, 1955 R. J.'HlNES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CASTINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 6, 1950 INVENTOR A/famew.

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Feb. 1, 1955 1-1. J H1NE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CASTINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 III TD I J HV L U IH Filed Oct. 6 1950 United States Patent "ice METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CASTINGS Russell J. Hines, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Hines Flask Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 6, 1950, Serial No. 188,797

8 Claims. (Cl. 22-107) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for casting by means of a plurality of molds grouped together to enable their pouring at substantially one operation. An object of the invention is to provide a system whereby individual molds may be readily formed and thereafter grouped together for such eflicient pouring of the molten metal.

My invention has been found particularly valuable in the casting of objects in pairs, the system enabling the placing of two individual molds in face to face engagement to make a pair of cavities with a common pouring opening. Successive pairs may be placed in a row one after the other, whereby each pair may be poured through a common opening, and the entire set poured within a minimum of time. In such a system the successive pairs may be readily separated by chill plates, which method is particularly useful where it is desired that the ob ect cast have one smooth hard flat surface.

My invention provides for the formation of a mold, its transference in another position to a casting table, and its ready mounting thereon in conjunction with other molds.

Briefly, my method, if carried out in the preferred manner, comprises placing within a flask a false wall removable from the flask, placing a pattern within the flask, packing sand into the space within the flask about the pattern and between the pattern and the false wall; thereafter mounting the false wall while still within the flask on a suitable support with the mold above it; then removing the flask, providing a suitable boundary for the exposed mold, and pouring the molten material. By this means a number of molds may be mounted one after another on the support, and common boundary means may be applied, thus enabling very rapid mounting and pourmg.

If the casting is to have one flat face, the flask may be placed on a flat table and the pattern laid on such table and the false wall placed in an upright position within the flask. Then, after the mold is formed and is transferred so that it is supported by the false wall beneath it as a bottom and the flask removed from the exterior of the mold, the opening in the mold which is to form the flat bottom may now be placed against a chill plate and another mold having a similar or related mold cavity may be placed in engagement with the other side of the first mold and a chill plate placed on the outer side of the second mold. Such pair of molds may be poured from a common intermediate pouring opening producing a pair of connected castings, the outer faces of which are smooth and hard by reason of having been cast against the chill plates. Then the mere separation of the castings at their narrow pouring connections produces the desired castmgs.

My invention includes also the apparatus illustrated in the drawings whereby the mold supported on the false bottom may be effectively mounted and clamped with other molds so that the entire set of molds may be poured from a single ladle of hot metal, at substantially one pouring operation. Other features contributing to the efliciency of the operation will be explained in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention ilustiated in the drawings and hereinafter described in etai In the drawings, Fig. l is a perspective view of a flask containing a pattern and molding sand; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the flask showing the top face of the sand therein; Fig. 3 is an end, view of the flask of Figs. 1 and 2,700,804 Patented Feb. 1, 1955 2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a part of the apparatus used during the casting operation; Fig. 5 is an end view showing the support for the mold during the removal of the flask; Fig. 6 is a top plan view illustrating a number of molds stacked in position for pouring; Fig. 7 is a section taken on a plane indicated by the line 77 on Fig. 6, illustrating the molds after pouring; Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a chill plate and a bottom plate in their relative positions for location on the rails of the casting table; Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the casting table with the clamped molds thereon, ready for pouring; Fig. 10 is an end view of the same as indicated by the line 10-10 in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a vertical section taken on a plane indicated by the line 1111 on Fig. 9.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 10 indicates a suitable molding table having a flat top on which a flask is adapted to rest thereon. This flask is preferably rectangular in form with four vertical walls at right angles to each other and is separable to free the formed mold. As shown, the flask is composed of two pairs of walls 12 and 13 rigidly connected at right angles to each other, the two pairs being hinged together at one corner, as indicated at 14 and removably clamped together at the diagonally opposite corner by a suitable clamp 15.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 indicate in dotted lines at 20 the pattern to form the mold cavity. Associated with this pattern are four upstanding strips 21 which are preferably comparatively thin members. They are arranged in two pairs, each with two strips in the longitudinal alignment. The strips may be a rigid part of the pattern but are preferably removable therefrom and mounted in sockets in the pattern.

An important feature of my invention comprises a false wall 30 which -is inserted in the flask adjacent one wall thereof beyond the region of the pattern. This false wall is a rectangular plate reaching from side to side and top to bottom of the flask, as shown in Fig. 1. Its face toward the interior of the flask is smooth and flat, while in the outer faces I have provided a pair of grooves 31 extending continuously across the Wall and vertical in Fig. 1. The corners of the false wall are preferably rabbeted to clear the corners of the flask, as shown at 32 and 33 in Fig. 1.

When the pattern 20 with the strips 21 is placed on the table 10 within the flask and the false wall put in place within the flask, as shown in Fig. 1, the remaining space within the flask is entirely filled with molding sand, as indicated at A in Fig. 1. Then a pair of grooves a are made in the top of the sand each in registration with a pair of strips 21 of the pattern and leading from the end of the sand opposite the false wall to a position beyond the farthest strips. These grooves are to form pouring and venting passageways as hereinafter explained.

After the sand mold has been formed within the flask, the flask is removed from the molding table and the pattern and strips are removed from the mold, the flask with the contained mold and false wall is tipped into an upright position, swinging about the lower edge of the flask end adjacent the false wall, so that the false wall within the flask forms a bottom for the mold.

The flask and contents are now transferred to the casting apparatus indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. This apparatus, as shown, provides a horizontal bed 40 carrying a pair of rails 41 which project beyond the side of the bed. The grooves 31 in the false bottom provide parallel spaces between the flask and the flask contents adapted to register with the projecting rails 41. The flask and contents are shoved onto these rails by movement endwise of the rails until the false bottom rests on these rails. Then the flask is unclamped at 15 and swung open on its hinge 14, as shown in Fig. 5, and entirely removed from the mold leaving the latter supported by the false bottom resting on the rails 41.

I have shown in Fig. 4 a platform 50 hinged at one edge on an axis along the front of the platform, as by trunnions 51, to the support 40, and I have shown a surmounting platform 55 hinged to the platform 50 at one end of the respective platforms, as shown by the trunnions 56. The surmounting platform 55 carries a pair of rails 57 of cross section and spacing similar to the rails 41.

The mold mounted on the false bottom and supported by the rails 41, as shown in Fig. 5, after the removal of the flask is carefully transferred to the rails 57. It will be understood, however, that the rails 41 may be consolidated with the rails 57 by merely extending the latter beyond the platform 55 so that the mold while in the flask may be mounted on such projecting ends of the rails 57 and the flask then removed. In any event, the mold without its pattern and passage-forming strips, and resting on the false bottom 30, eventually comes to be mounted on the rails 57 on top of the platform 55.

The platform 55 carries a fixed upstanding abutment 60 having a vertical face transverse of the rails 57. In making a casting which is to have a smooth flat face, as effected by the pattern 20, I provide a rectangular chill plate 61, Fig. 8, which has notches in its base adapted to register with the rails 57, and this chill plate in use rests against the flat face of the abutment 60 and the empty mold is brought into contact with the exposed face of the chill plate, as shown near the right hand end of Figs. 6 and 7.

Now a similar mold is formed and mounted on the rails 57 with its cavity facing in the opposite direction to that of the first mold and is brought into abutting engagement with the face of the first mold, as shown at A in Fig. 7. Then a second chill plate 62 similar to the plate 61 is placed on the outer side of the second mold A If only a pair of castings is to be made a suitable abutment will be placed against the outer face of the chill plate 62, though in practice I prefer to mount a number of pairs of molds suggested at A A A in Fig. 7 and with the chill plates as 63, 64, 65 bounding successive pairs.

After the molds are all placed on the rails 57 of the casting table 55 an abutment 68, Fig. 9, is placed on these rails beyond and against the final chill plate. The platform 55 has hinged to its opposite sides a pair of plates 70 which may be tipped up into vertical position, as shown in Fig. 11, to form boundary walls for the ends of all the molds.

The abutments 60 and 68 are clamped against the opposite ends of the extreme chill plates bounding the set of molds by tie rods 72 which have heads 73 beyond one abutment and nuts 74 screwing onto the rods beyond the other abutment. As shown, the two abutments carry ears 75 which have upwardly facing recesses in which the rods lie. The tightening of the nuts on these rods effectively clamps all of the molds and chill plates together. To insure the side plates 70 firmly abutting all of the molds, I provide a set of wedges 77 which are forced into place between the tie rods and the side plates.

It will be seen that when the molds are placed and clamped, as described, each pair of mating mold grooves 11 provides downward passageways into the cavities of a pair of adjacent molds. One of these passageways constitutes a pouring opening and the other a vent opening. Accordingly, the entire set of molds is in condition for successive pouring from a single ladle of molten metal. When the metal has been poured through the respective openings castings result, each in connected pairs, as indicated at B in Fig. 7.

It is frequently desirable to have the vent openings terminate somewhat higher than the casting openings for the better discharge of gas from the molds. This is provided for by the hinging of the sub-platform 59, which may be tipped up on its pivotal axis 51 so that the openings along the opposite side of the molds stand higher than on the adjacent side. It is likewise sometimes desirable to tip the set of molds endwise to place them in successively higher pairs. This is effected by lifting the platform upwardly about the transverse axis 56 into such a position, as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 9.

After the different castings have been made, the clamping nuts 74 are loosened, the rods and wedges removed, the sides 70 turned down and the different pairs of molds removed from between the chill plates, and the sand knocked off the various castings. It is then only necessary to separate each pair of castings along the narrow intermediate connection where they were poured to produce the individual castings desired.

It will be seen from the above description and the accompanying drawings, that I have provided a system of preparing molds for casting which provides for the formation of a mold within a removable flask and subsequent mounting of the mold in another position for pouring. By this system I may readily prepare molds for mounting in pairs so that both molds may be poured through a common opening; A large number of molds may be mounted by this system so that they may all be poured in rapid succession with molten metal from a single ladle in one operation. The system, moreover, is very suitable where the castings are to have one flat face, as it provides for the formation of the mold and the casting of the articles against chill plates providing such smooth surfaces that no subsequent machining is necessary. The system is economical and may be carried out rapidly in producing a large number of castings.

I claim:

1. The method of making a set of molds suitable for receiving molten material cast at substantially one pouring operation comprising placing a pattern on a table, surrounding the pattern by a separable flask resting on the table and providing walls rising therefrom, placing a false well within the flask against one wall thereof to define with the other walls a mold cavity, forming a sand mold within the mold cavity about the pattern, tipping the flask to support the mold on the false wall at the bottom and the mold above it, supporting the false wall bottom independently of the flask, removing the flask, repeating the described operation for a number of molds, placing such molds supported by their false bottoms side by side with chill plates between them, providing end abutments and side walls for the group of molds, and tightening such abutments and walls about the group.

2. A method of making castings, comprising forming a mold with a pouring passageway within a flask and against a false wall therein, supporting the mold upon the false wall as a bottom, removing the flask, repeating the operation for a subsequent mold, stacking the molds with their pouring passageways communicating in side by side relation to form a common pouring passageway while the molds are supported upon their respective false bottoms, and then simultaneously forming a pair of castings by pouring molten metal into the common passageway, which is in communication with both mold cavities.

3. The method of preparing a mold for casting comprising, removably placing a false wall within a walled flask to form with the other flask walls a mold cavity therein, forming a mold in such cavity, turning the entire assembly to support the mold on top of the false wall, supporting the false wall independent of the flask, and thereafter removing the flask.

4. The method of preparing a set of molds for casting comprising, placing a false wall within a walled flask to form with the other flask walls a mold cavity therein, forming a mold in such cavity, turning the entire assembly to support the mold on the false wall as a bottom, supporting the false wall bottom with the mold independent of the flask, removing the flask, repeating this operation for the formation of a number of molds independently supported on corresponding false wall bottoms, placing such independently supported molds side by side, surrounding all of the molds with a common boundary and clamping them together to form a plural mold assembly for pouring.

5. The method of making a mold suitable for casting comprising, placing a false wall within a walled flask to form with the other flask walls a mold cavity therein, forming a mold in such mold cavity, providing a pouring guide in one face of the mold, positioning the assembly with the false wall as a bottom supporting the mold, supporting the false bottom and mold independently of the flask, removing the flask, repeating the operation for another mold, and placing the two molds in side by side relation with the pouring guides facing each other to provide a common pouring opening therebetween.

6. The method of making a mold suitable for casting comprising, placing a pattern on a support, surrounding the pattern with a plural-sided walled flask in spaced relation from the pattern, placing a false wall against one side within the flask, the false wall extending across the flask along such one side and from top to bottom to form with the other flask side walls a mold cavity about the pattern, forming a mold within such mold cavity, tipping the entire assembly to support the mold on the false wall as a bottom, supporting the false wall and mold independently of the flask, and removing the flask therefrom.

7. In an apparatus for casting, the combination of a flask of the readily removable type having hinged walls and a latch adapted to be separably closed to form a mold boundary when placed upon a bottom board, a false wall freely disposed in the flask against one wall thereof to allow the mold to be formed about a pattern in the space bounded by the false wall and the remainder of the flask wall, said false wall having a groove in the face adjacent the flask wall to receive an independent support to permit the flask to be separated from the false wall and the mold when the flask is positioned with the false wall in the plane of the bottom board, thereby allowing the mold to be independently supported on the false wall.

8. In an apparatus for casting, the combination of a flask of the readily removable type having hinged walls and a latch adapted to be separably closed to form a mold cavity therein, another wall freely disposed within the cavity with one face supported against one of the flask walls to form a false wall for the cavity, said false wall having means for receiving an independent support to permit the supporting flask wall to 'be separated and removed therefrom, whereby the mold may be independently supported by the false wall and the entire flask removed from about the mold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 447,804 Wooster et al Mar. 10, 1891 539,209 Adams May 14, 1895 953,999 Levering Apr. 5, 1910 1,187,027 Bates June 13, 1916 1,747,223 Campbell Feb. 18, 1930 1,777,288 Bateman et al. Oct. 7, 1930 2,101,677 Hagemeyer Dec. 7, 1937 2,342,769 Suchann Feb. 29, 1944 2,346,182 Pattison Apr. 11, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 470,233 Germany Jan. 8, 1929 491,959 France Feb. 25, 1919 

